Teachers’Characteristics and Teaching Styles as Determinants of Students’Achievement in Senior Secondary Schools Civics and English Language in Osun State,Nigeria

The study examined the status of senior secondary schools’students’achievement in Civic Education and English Language in Osun State.It also investigated the Civic Education and English Language teachers’characteristics in the state and determined the teaching styles of Civic Education and English Language teachers in the study areas and finally assessed the influence of teachers’characteristics and teaching styles on students’achievement in secondary schools Civic Education and English Language.The study adopted Discriminant Analysis.The study sample consisted of 600 senior secondary school students,30 Civics teachers,and 30 English Language teachers that were selected using multi-stage sampling procedure.Four instruments were constructed and validated before use.Three research questions were asked and answered while one hypothesis was tested and verified.The results among others showed that more than 50%of the students that participated in the study had high status of achievement in Civic Education while more than 40%of English Language students that participated in the study had low status of achievement.The study also showed that teachers’characteristics pertinent to both Civic Education teachers and English Language teachers were,effective discipline skills(Civics,M=1.20,SD=0.407;English,M=1.40,SD=0.498)and good communication with parents(Civics,M=1.43,SD=0.504;English,M=1.40,SD=0.498).In addition,there was significant influence of teachers’characteristics and teaching styles on students’achievement in Civics and English Language in senior secondary schools(X^2(2)=16.37,p<0.05).The study concluded that teachers’characteristics and teaching styles are major determinants of students’achievement in Civic Education and English Language.

THE HIDDEN SIDE OF TEACHING STYLE——A REFLECTION ON A LOCAL TEACHER SURVEY

Though language teachers filter much of the methods and content through their own systems, the discourse about foreign language education in China has mainly concentrated on the accessible behavioral aspects rather than on the teachers' mental lives and personal styles. Based on the distinctions of relevant concepts and a local teacher survey, this paper first analyzes the hidden side of the language teaching style through a systematic reflection on the belief-behavior inconsistency of the language teachers, and then advocates a need to focus on the covert style of Chinese individual teachers as well as an effort to look beyond methodological theories and to take teachers' competence and conditions into consideration.

Effective combination of learning styles and college English teaching

Students preferentially take in and process information in different ways, and teaching methods also should vary accordingly. How much a student can learn is also determined by the compatibility of the student＇s learning styles and the teacher＇s teaching styles. It is important for teachers to know their learners＇ preferred learning styles because this knowledge will help teachers to plan their lessons to match or adapt their teaching and to provide the most appropriate activities to suit a particular learner group.

Teaching in the Light of Learning Styles

It has long been agreed that learning styles play an important role in the process of language learning. Research has indicated the individuality, stability and capability of development of learning styles. This essay will explore how teaching can promote learners＇ higher achievement in language learning in the light of learning styles.

OBSERVATIONS ON TEACHING STYLE OF NATIVE-SPEAKING TEACHERS IN CHINESE ELT CLASSROOMS

It is a not uncommon phenomenon that Chinese students complain that they learn little from native-speaking teachers’classes.The reason for such responses probably comes from‘a large disparity ofexpectations between teachers and students in terms of teaching style.’(Brumfit:1986:97)According to principles of educational psychology,‘the style of the teacher plays an important partupon learner’s performance.In research by Joyce and Hudson,there were some indications thatteachers and students having similar styles formed the most successful combinations’in terms ofexamination results.(Child 1981:229)By style we mean the way of teaching or learning.No doubt,if we want to make effective use of assistance of native-speaking teachers,we need to know specificallythese two aspects:

Effective Teaching of College English:From Understanding Class Silence in China

Chinese students tend to keep silent in class and bear in mind what has been taught passively rather than expressing their ideas actively like western students, which concerns Chinese teachers deeply because of the unsatisfactory class production. From the perspectives of "face" in Politeness Principle on the basis of cultural dimensions, this paper mainly focuses on class silence with a comparison between different cultures in the east and west, explores the true reasons for its happening in China and constructs a reference research for follow-up studies.

A Findings Report on the Practice of Attending to Learners＇ Learning Style Preferences in EFL Classroom

For effective language learning, the compatibility between learners＇ learning preferences and instructional approaches in classroom learning activities is of crucial importance. However, there is some incongruity in between in the EFL classroom in China, which has very much hindered students＇ language learning progress. This paper presents some findings of an investigation on the various conflicting situations in learning and teaching, and ventures some tentative suggestions for possible improvement of this situation.

Classroom Organization： from Teachers to Students

In the present article, the author looks into several influential questions that are too often given insufficient emphasis in the classroom teaching and the following conclusions are reached through the research： （1） Classroom is a behavior setting where students of different characteristics come to bring about desirable changes. Different strategies must be used to meet their needs; （2） Teachers are not just transmitters of knowledge; they must be an educator as well as a helpful person; （3） Students should be encouraged to communicate with teachers and their peers to achieve a conducive classroom climate.

The Other Part of the Story —— Chinese Students at American Universities

Chinese intemational students studying at American universities are generally believed to be intelligent, hard-working and high score achieving, which are confirmed by many sources. People tend to believe that it is simply easy for Chinese students to excel academically at US universities, but this is not necessarily true, especially for students fresh from China. Based on a survey of Chinese students studying at US universities and interviews with American professors, this essay reveals Chinese students＇ academic frustrations and struggles that have been overlooked due to their high scores, and points out that it is the mismatch between Chinese and American teaching and learning styles that leads to this difficulty. Furthermore, this essay concludes with the author providing suggestions for both Chinese and American educators to help future Chinese students make the most of their higher education opportunity at American universities.